My Imprisoned Heart
by zacks.little.puppy
Summary: Vanitas and Ven go through the end of their high school lives dealing with crushes, betrayal, hurt, comfort, love, and friendship. Ven is infatuated with Terra, a senior during his junior year. He eventually ends up dating him and feels like the luckiest person in high school. Vanitas is forced to watch his friend fall for Terra as he struggles with feelings of his own.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My mom had dropped me off at the park this morning because no one would baby-sit for me while she was at work. Apparently, my mom wasn't concerned about me getting kidnapped. It was either because she didn't love as much as my three-year-old self thought or she knew that I could take care of myself. Damn right I could take care of myself. I didn't need some adult hovering over my shoulders while I had fun, if you could call the city park fun.

Oh sure, there were swings and slides and all of that neat junk that most parks had, but it wasn't fun when there were other kids playing in your spot. So I told myself that it wasn't worth claiming a usual spot because some other idiot would come and steal if from you, and I named myself the "Unofficial Patrol Cop of the Park". I walked around the park to see if there were any kids acting like idiots, while other times I napped on the unpaid job. There were even times I made kids cry and ruin their fun. Ha, I was and still am such a sadistic bastard.

One day, I did something that would change my life forever. That's probably a cliché sentence in other stories, too. But this story isn't about some dreamy vampire boy stalking a teenage girl or about a hero saving the love of this life. This story doesn't have anything to do with romance, now that I think about it.

I was doing my daily routine, if that's what you want to call it, and saw a kid about my age getting picked on by an older kid. My feet ran over to the scene and as I got closer, I could see that the older kid had to be in first grade at least. He was holding a stuffed teddy bear in his hand, threatening to throw the stuffed animal into a puddle of mud. The little kid, who I had mistaken for a girl, was whining and raising his arms over his head. I almost laughed at his failed attempt to reach for the bear, but some part in my soul told me to help the little boy out.

"Hey, why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" I shouted at the older kid.

"Why don't you shut up?" he said, strangling the teddy bear. I heard the little boy cry, whimpering behind me.

"Wow, is that the best you could come up with for a comeback? How lame," I mumbled. My vocabulary was large for my age, but that was only because I heard my mother say these words to her "dates" that she brought home.

The first grader yelled, "Shut up!" and pushed me down. I stumbled down to my tiny ass and glared at him. I stood back up and I think I scared the older kid when I did. I curled my tiny hands into fists and punched the older kid in the gut. Surprisingly, to me and the bully, I was able to knock the kid down on his knees. He let go of the bear as he clutched his stomach and I saw the little blond boy reach for it quickly before hiding behind me. I smirked as the first grader ran off crying.

After that, I began to walk away since the kid was pretty much safe now. However, I had the sense that someone was following me and turned to see the little blond boy clutching his teddy bear tightly. He looked up at me with innocent blue eyes and a cheerful smile. It made me feel warm inside for some reason that I did not know. I continued walking and could hear little footsteps following my every move. My three-year-old self jolted to the right and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the blond do the same. I jolted to the left and the boy mimicked my actions. I turned towards him and he smiled up at me.

"Do you need something?" I asked a little harshly.

He didn't seem to mind. His smile turned up at me, making something in my stomach drop. "Thank you," he said and hugged me.

The touch startled me. I tensed under the boy's touch and looked down at him. "Is that all?" I asked bitterly, but inside I was melting. I was a three-year-old boy that hadn't experienced any emotion from anyone, not even my mother. I fought the urge to hug him back, biting my teeth so that no emotion would show on my face.

"My name is Ven," he replied, letting go of me. I eased my body and relaxed. "What's your name?"

"Why would you want to know my name?"

"Because I want to me your friend," Ven answered.

I think my heart stopped at that, but it wasn't because I was touched. I was shocked. All I could manage to say was, "Why?"

However, Ven never answered because I saw my mom's red convertible driving towards the park. I ran towards it, happy for once that my mom was here. But as I ran after her, Ven ran after me. I heard a woman called out his name and I could only assume that it was Ven's mother. I stopped running when I saw my mom talking to another woman, the woman that just so happened to be Ven's mother. Ven ran into me, falling down. He stood up quickly, clinging onto my arm.

"I see that you finally made a friend, Vanitas," my mother said. I wanted to slap her. Ven was not my friend and she just gave away my name.

"Vani," Ven called out. I stared coldly at him. _Was that supposed to be my nickname_, I wondered. He snuggled closer to my arm, neglecting the teddy bear that had fallen on the ground.

"Aw," Ven's mother cooed, "we should set them up on a play date."

Date? I was smart enough to know that date was what teenagers did to have an excuse to kiss one another and eventually end up marrying. I glared at the woman, wanting to set her on fire.

My mother loved the idea. Apparently, she knew Ven's mom from school, but they were never friends. However, it seemed that started to change as my mom dropped me off every morning at Ven's house so that I could _play_ with him. Ven would show me his room and all of the toys he had. He tried to get me to play with him by handing me some of his toys, but I refused. Instead, I watched Ven play, wondering how he could come up with such scenarios. What kind of imagination does he have? However, Ven started to grow on me. I even participated and played with him, volunteering to be the bad guy. I knew that the bad guy never wins and the hero would always stand out, but I didn't want fame and glory; even if it was in the imagination of a three-year-old.

* * *

"Vanitas wake up," my mother's voice squeaked through the door as she knocked on my door. I groaned and threw the pillow over my head. "C'mon Vanitas, you don't want to be late on your first day of school."

I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. "You can't really consider it the first day unless you're five," I mumbled. I lay back down and pulled the blankets over my head, going back to sleep until my mother came into my room.

"Get up, Vanitas," she said, grabbing my blankets and pulling them down.

I groaned and glared at her. "You're lucky that I don't sleep naked," I told her, crawling out of bed. She laughed at me and began to make my bed because she knew that I wouldn't do it. I walked to the bathroom, trying to think of what I should do this year. Mom always wanted me to do my best and be a good student because I was actually smart in most of my classes; I just didn't like doing the work and answering the stupid questions on the paper. I saw my mom going through my closet, looking at my clothes.

She looked over at me and smiled. "Vanitas, why don't you ever wear these clothes in the back?"

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe because they would rip if I tried to put them on," I said, sitting down on my bed. "And because I'll get made fun of at school."

My mom begged to differ. "But Vanitas, you would look so cute in them."

"I don't go for cute," I replied as she started to leave my room.

And then my mother said something that left me dumbstruck, "Ven is really cute." She left and it took me a few minutes before I was able to recover and finally get dressed. Oh, my clothing description is needed? Well, fine, here it is: my closet is filled with black and red clothes, there. Happy? And no, I do not wear those fucking skinny jeans; those are meant for girls and possibly emo and gay boys. Are you offended? Well, you should be.

I lazily walk into the kitchen to see my mom washing the dishes. She looked over at me and smiled. "Do you want any breakfast, Vanitas?"

I shook my head. "No," I said, grabbing my bag and headings towards the door, "I have to go pick up Ven." My mom giggled. I stopped at the door and looked back, trying to see her reaction. But a wall was in the way so I walked out of the house thinking, _what the hell is wrong with that woman?_

I'm forced to drive my mom's old, broken down red convertible. Sure, the thing goes and I have to jumpstart it sometimes, but the car is pretty useless. And let's just say that if it ever rains, I'll have to learn how to drive with one hand because the button to put the top up is broken. So I'm forced to go topless… Yeah, think dirty thoughts.

In front of Ven's house, I abuse the steering wheel as a high moan comes out of the car. _Pathetic horn_, I thought to myself. Ven runs out of his house and over to the passenger side of the car, throwing his backpack in the backseat before sliding into the car and pulling his seatbelt over his chest. He smiles at me and I could hear my mother's high-pitched, cocky voice in my head. I smirk at him and pull out of the driveway, turning on the road that would lead to our high school.

"Vani, are you excited that it's our junior year?" he asked me, practically bouncing in his seat.

"No," I mumbled, "I'll be excited when I never have to step foot in that building ever again." I saw Ven frown and chuckled. "This year is going to suck," I added.

"Why?" Ven asked, tilting his head a little. My mother's voice echoed in my head and I felt like slapping myself, as if that would make my mom's voice go away.

"This is the year when they start bugging us about all that college shit," I answered and heard Ven make a soft _Oh_ sound, but that didn't stop him from perking up.

"Do you think we'll have any classes together?" he asked, still smiling at me.

I shrugged. I didn't know what I was supposed to say to him. The subject changed when I pulled into the school parking lot. I swear that Ven had some sort of sugar this morning because he kept bouncing. I put my hand on the top of his head, holding him down as we walked through the school doors. Ven bounced through my hand, making me slap him. He whined before bouncing again. I looked down and brought my hand over my eyes, face-palming.

"Ventus," I shouted, looking at him, "calm the fuck down!" He laughed at me. He _laughed_ at me. I sighed and shook my head. "What the fuck are you on?" I muttered and he laughed again.

"I'm sorry, Vani," he replied, still bouncing, "but I'm just so happy!"

I almost asked him why, but I knew I shouldn't. I grabbed Ven by his wrist and pulled him to the main office, bumping through all of the small freshmen that seemed to back against the wall when they saw me. The lady behind the desk didn't notice and looked up at me, not having to ask my name. She handed me my schedule before turning to Ven. "What's your last name, dear?" she asked.

_Dear_, I thought, trying to figure out if she was being nice to Ven because he was my friend or the way he smiled. I watched as that smile curled nervously and he rubbed the back of his head, awkwardly telling the lady his name. She smiled at him and flipped through the papers, handing Ven his schedule. Ven thanked her as I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the office, grinning at the way the kiddies clutched to the wall.

"Vani," Ven called out to me as I pulled him through a crowd of teenagers. _Why do teenagers insist on standing in the middle of the hallway? Don't they know that it just pisses people off?_ "What does your schedule look like?"

I pulled him towards the junior hallways, looking down at the piece of paper in my hand to find where my damn locker was. Ven was now holding onto the back of my shirt as I yanked him against a locker to avoid a few girls in out class. He stumbled a bit and fell against me, laughing nervously. Was he still hyped up?

"Here," I said, handing him my schedule while I looked for my locker. I counted down the numbers as we walked down the hall, hugging the lockers as Ven continued to hold onto me while he compared our schedules. We walked down to the end of the hallway where the lockers ended and I still hadn't found _my_ locker. "Fuck," I mumbled, grabbing Ven and jerking him over to the other side of the hallway as I continued my search. I was about to punch something, or someone, when I found the numbers to my locker and sighed heavily. Why did the first day of school have to be so hectic? I heard a squeal and raised my shoulders at the sound. "What the fuck was that?" I groaned, turning to see Ven jumping up and down again.

"Vani," he squealed again, "we have almost every class together." He began to jump up and down, doing some sort of happy dance. Did he really have to do that, especially when I was with him?

"Oh good," I muttered, opening my locker, "so I'll be able to have a break from you."

"Ah," Ven moaned, looking hurt, "Vani, don't be mean. This year is going to be special."

"Why's that?" I asked, wondering why I needed a locker in the first place. I slammed the door shut and sighed.

"Because," Ven answered, and I could tell he was nervous just by the sound of his voice, "I think I'm actually going to have the nerve to ask Terra out."

If I would've been drinking something, this would be the part where I spat it out and possibly laugh as it hit some _princess_. However, I choked on my saliva instead, coughing a bit. Ven didn't seem to notice and I could tell he was staring at the senior hallway, looking for Terra. Terra was known by everyone, especially the teenage girls with high hormones. He was a football player and a wrestler and his name was announced all the time for sport occasions. I was the opposite; my name was called down to the office for detentions or some sort of counseling between me, my mom, and the school counselor. I slid down onto the floor, my back against my locker as I looked up and watched Ven look for his dream boy. I almost asked him why he was interested in Terra, but that was when Axel and Roxas, Ven's twin brother, came over to us.

"Man, what is up with these freshmen?" Axel asked. "I was trying to get a drink from the water fountain and they just kept standing there and staring at everything like they've never been out of the house."

"I'd be surprised too if I saw a walking candlestick," I muttered, smirking up at Axel. He flipped me off.

The warning bell screamed through the hallways, causing teenagers to scramble and run towards their classroom. Axel wrapped his arm around Roxas and pulled him close, groping his ass. I saw Roxas slap Axel and chuckled. I looked up at Ven. He knelt towards me and held out his hand. I shook his hand away and stood up, grabbing my backpack from where it had slid off of my arm.

Ven grabbed my hand and pulled me through the hallways, running towards the stairs. "C'mon Vani, our first class is up here," he cheered and almost tripped going up the stairs.

I sighed. "Ven, you idiot, you're not supposed to run up the stairs," I muttered, slapping him over the head.

He whined at being abused and I watched him do some sort of skipping thing up the stairs. I lazily followed after him, chuckling when he fell forward. "Ow," he moaned and I continued to laugh. "Vani, don't laugh at me, help me." I walked up to him and stared down at him. He laughed nervously and smiled at me. I shook my head at him.

"Do you need me to carry you to class?" I asked, leaning against the rail. He shook his head and I scoffed, holding out my hand to him. Ven reached for my hand and took it. I pulled him up and he started to fall forward again. My arms reacted by wrapping around him as he fell against me, groaning as if he had a stomach ache. "What, don't tell me you're sugar high is wearing off?" Ven smiled up at me and laughed softly. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped. I turned as his eyes were located at something behind me. _More like someone_, I thought.

"Terra," he called out nervously, still in my arms. I didn't bother to let go and Ven was too dumbstruck to push me away. I could feel his heart pounding between our chests.

"Hey Ven, you better hurry," Terra said, smiling. I wanted to rip that smile off of his face. "You don't want to be late on your first day of school." He winked at Ven and walked down the stairs.

I turned to Ven and sighed, easily picking him up over my shoulder and carrying him down the hallway. He realized about ten steps later what I was doing and protested a little. "Vani, this looks weird," he complained.

"No it doesn't," I yelled back at him, shifting his weight on my shoulders. His ass jumped in front of my face and I heard him whimper behind me. "What classroom are we going to again?" I forgot that Ven was leading the way and I hadn't had a chance to look at my schedule, which Ven still had.

"Room two-thirteen," he replied, trying to sit up. "Vani put me down. I can walk."

I let go of him and watched as he fell to the floor on his ass, groaning softly. "Ow, that hurt," he moaned and then looked up at me with a glare. "Why did you do that?"

I pointed behind him. "We're here, idiot." Ven blushed and quickly stood up, stumbling from the blood rush. He turned and looked at the classroom. I pushed him and he almost fell again. He glared at me but didn't have time to react as I grabbed his arm and found a table in the back. Yes, we were forced to sit in tables in this class, not desks. This was the class that all juniors complained about because there was always some lame project to do. Ven quickly sat down next to me as the final bell rang, causing a kid in front of his to jolt up from his nap.

After the morning announcements, the teacher stood up in front of the class to tell us about the classroom rules and everything that we would learn in this class. He then asked us that we were to sit with someone that we wanted to be partners with for projects and I nudged Ven's side. Ven kicked me under the table and I chuckled. The teacher, a bald man with a hunch, wanted everyone to say something interesting about their selves. I rolled my eyes in annoyance as rows of students introduced themselves and told "interesting" facts. I smirked because over half of these kids were lying and heard Ven mutter something that was agreeing to me.

"What about you two young lads in the back?" the teacher gestured to me and Ven. I kicked Ven's foot.

Ven jerked, making a surprised _Ah_ sound. A few students laughed and I glared at them, their rumors could only go so far. Sure, there were rumors about Ven and his "relationship" with me. Almost everyone in the entire school thought that we were fuck buddies while others wondered if we were dating and if Ven was in an abusive relationship. Both of us had been called more than enough times to the guidance office to talk about our _issue_ during our freshmen year. When the teachers and counselors found out that there was no issue, they were embarrassed. Ven was left embarrassed because he hadn't heard any of these rumors until now. Only our friends, well, _Ven's_ friends, knew that the rumors weren't even close. And still, these idiots wanted to believe that Ven was my bitch.

"My name is Ventus, Sir," Ven said after the laughter had calmed down, "but my friends call me Ven."

"And what do you think is interesting about yourself, Ventus?" the teacher asked. I didn't like the way he said Ven's name, it was creepy.

"Uh, well I…" I almost blurted out that he was crushing on Terra, but Ven already received enough glares. He seemed to look around at the other students as they watched him with wide eyes. I glared at everyone and they seemed to scoot back. "I've been friends with Vanitas," he gestured to me, "ever since we were three." Ven laughed nervously.

_Great Ven, now the rumors are going to go further_, I thought, rolling my eyes as I saw a row of _princesses_ look at each other.

"What about you, Vanitas?" the teacher asked and I turned my eyes on him.

"I'm not interesting," I muttered.

Apparently, the teacher didn't believe me. "Nonsense, everyone has an interesting bone in their body."

_What the fuck, _I thought, _is he one of those hippies that think that love makes the world go round?_ He was pestering me and I think he knew it. "Fine," I hissed, speaking through my teeth, "I always end up saving Ven's ass because he's prone to danger."

I heard a few people start laughing again and glared at them. _If only looks could kill_, I pondered. My eyes shifted over to Ven and I saw that he was blushing horribly. He buried his face in his arms, trying to hide from everyone. I smirked as the teacher continued the "Interesting Facts about My Students" survey and nudged Ven's foot. He peeked at me and I grinned at him, my way of telling him that I was somewhat sorry.

* * *

Two classes later, and after watching Ven fall asleep, I found myself in the cafeteria with Ven and his friends. I sat next to him at the octagon table, watching him put his head on the table and close his eyes. I rolled my eyes and sat back in my chair, propping my knee on the table as we waited for the rest of the idiots to buy the school's crappy lunch. I continued to watch Ven as he started to fall asleep again and shook my head. Zack came bouncing into my vision as he sat next to the sleeping Ven. He looked at me and held a finger up to his lips, signaling for me to _shush_. I flipped him off but he ignored it. His fingers lightly rested on Ven's ear, making Ven smack at Zack's hand. He groaned before going back to sleep. Zack tried to hold back his laughter as he stood behind Ven and attacked his sides. Ven squealed, jumping up and immediately turning towards me.

"Vani," he scolded, "stop it."

I smirked. "Hey, for once, it isn't me," I replied, motioning towards Zack.

Ven turned towards Zack and scowled. "Zack, I'm going to kill you."

Zack shook his head. "No you're not," he said.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?" Ven asked, putting his head back down.

"Because I'm going to help you get your hands on _Terra_," Zack answered, laughing at the way Ven's head shot up. Something like that would've amused me, but I was more annoyed than anything.

"How?" Ven asked, tilting his head to the left. I felt like I wanted to know the same thing.

"You'll see," Zack sang, winking at Ven.

Ven groaned, blushing as he put his head back down. I sighed and kicked the side of his leg. He glared at me. "What time did you go to bed last night?" I asked.

"Four," he answered slowly. I kicked his leg again. "Vani, stop doing that!" Zack chuckled at the nickname.

I glared at Zack as the others sat down. "Watch your self, Puppy," I threatened.

"What'd you do now, Zack?" Axel asked, picking up something that looked somewhere between a burrito and/or sandwich.

"I'm helping Ven's love-life," Zack answered, his face beaming with delight. He nudged Ven and laughed when only a low groan was heard from the blond.

"Who's your dream boy, Ven?" Sora asked. I rolled my eyes at my half-brother. Yes, I said half-brother. We share the same dad and _sadly_ neither of us met him. And by sadly, I mean that I don't give a fuck. And no, we are not twins! I'm six months older than Sora.

Ven groaned. "No one needs to know," he mumbled.

I saw Roxas shake his head. "Ven, you can do better than him."

Sora practically jumped on Roxas. "Do you know who it is, Roxas?"

"Obviously," I answered, wanting to throw something at Sora but the closest thing, somebody, next to me was Ven and I couldn't throw him. Okay, I _could_, but I didn't want to because Ven was in a vicious mood at the moment.

Sora pouted. "Don't be mean, Vanitas."

I smirked. "I'll be mean if I want to be mean." I looked down at Ven, half-asleep. I shook my head at him. "It's Terra," I answered Sora's, and probably Axel's, question. Everyone at the table leaned towards me and Ven. Sora and Axel wanted to hear more from Ven, Roxas leaned forward to push Axel out of his face, and Zack was already leaning forward but he jumped when I said Terra's name. Ven sat and up and glared at me. "Oh calm down," I told the entire table, "it's just a small crush."

"Nuh-uh," Zack said, shaking a disfigured French fry, "I'm going to get Terra to ask Ven out. That's my goal for this year."

"Zack actually has a goal," I muttered, smirking at him. He pouted a bit.

"Ven, what are you thinking?" Roxas asked. "Even if Zack does succeed in getting Terra to ask you out, what makes you think that he won't be abusive?"

Ven rolled his eyes at his twin. I still never figured out why Roxas wasn't at the park that day Ven decided to stalk me. "It's not like I don't already go through abuse," he said, looking at me. "And Vani will be there if anything bad happens."

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"Vani, huh?" Axel asked, grinning.

"Shut the fuck up," I glared at Axel before turning to Ven.

"You promised," Ven whined, not taking his eyes off of me.

I shook my head. "What promise?"

Ven opened his mouth to speak, but looked around at the table. I looked at everyone and they were staring at us, watching our every move and taking in our every sentence that we said. Ven looked back at me and muttered, "You know."

I actually did know what he was talking about. It was after we met in the park when weeks had passed through us, when I actually started to consider Ven as a friend. We had made a promise that I would be Ven's shield as long as Ven continued to be my friend. However, somewhere along the way, I can't help but remember that Ven promised something else to me. He promised to me that he would be more than just my friend. I shook away the thought. "No, I don't know," I lied.

Ven's eyes looked down and I could tell that he was hurt. I still stayed emotionless, forgetting that there was more than just me and Ven until Axel spoke up, "It's no wonder everyone thinks that you guys are fuck buddies."

Ven looked up at Axel. "What?" he asked. Oh yeah, Ven never heard about that rumor.

"Didn't you know?" Axel asked. "Everyone thinks that you and Vanitas are fucking."

I glared at Axel as Ven looked over at me. I sighed at Ven's reaction. "It was a long time ago," I muttered.

"Vani," Ven said with a small whimper in his throat, "why didn't you tell me about that one?"

My eyes sat coldly on Axel. "Thanks," I bit my back teeth. "Ven, get over it. It's not like you should care what those idiots think, anyway."

"But…what if they still think that?" I could tell he was thinking of this morning when I carried him over my shoulder.

"Ven," Roxas said, trying to comfort his brother. He hit Axel in the arm. I actually applauded Roxas at that moment.

Zack spoke up, "Don't worry, Ven. This isn't going to ruin your chance with your lover boy, Terra."

I grinded my teeth when Terra's name was mentioned. What was it about that guy that made me want to beat his ass into the ground? I saw Ven blush and hide his face again. I kicked the side of his leg and he turned his head to look at me. I was about to tell him that I was sorry, something I rarely did; but I didn't get a chance to because there was an audience and Axel's voice raped the silence. Yes, his voice _raped_ the silence.

"Are you sure that you guys aren't fuck buddies?" he asked.

Ven groaned and hid underneath the table. I glared at the redhead. "Axel, shut the fuck up!" I yelled at him, causing a few heads from other tables to turn towards me. I ignored the stares and kept my eyes on the grinning redhead.

"What are you going to do about it, Vani?" he taunted.

"Don't call me, Vani," I said through grinded teeth.

"Aw," Axel cooed, "so Ven is the only one that's allowed to call you Vani? That's so sweet, Vani." I saw Roxas bury his face in his palm, muttering something about Axel being an idiot. "You know, that's probably why everyone thinks that you guys are fucking."

"Axel," I threatened, standing up, "I will fucking kill you."

Ven grabbed my hand from his spot underneath the table. I thought I heard him whisper my name. Axel just smirked at me. The bell echoed throughout the cafeteria, signaling that lunch was over. Roxas pulled Axel away from our table and the redhead kept giving me that stupid smile of his. I noticed that Zack had disappeared. _No wonder it was quiet_, I thought to myself. Ven peeked out of his hiding spot and looked up at me, still holding my hand. My eyes met his and I knew what he was going to ask and before he could, I grabbed my bag from the floor and walked out of the cafeteria. I could hear Ven calling after me and it didn't really help that our next class was together, stupid schedule arrangement.

That class happened to be art class, something that I don't remember signing up for. I slid into an empty table in the back, but that didn't stop Ven from finding me. It was as if he knew I would sit in the back. He sat next to me and I rolled my eyes, glaring at him. "What?" I asked harshly.

"Vani, why didn't you ever tell me that everyone thinks we're…" he looked away from me and blushed.

I sighed. _Damn you, Axel…_ Ven's eyes tormented me. I looked away from him. "You were better off not knowing…"

He looked at me and it seemed as if he were about to cry. I turned my eyes toward him to see his lip quivering and his eyes blinking rapidly as if to stop the tears from overflowing. "Vani," he whispered, but he didn't get a chance to say anything else as class started and the art teacher started to give directions. Ven kept watching me, never taking his eyes off of me. I shook my head at him as he slid a note to me, something that I thought kids didn't do anymore during class since cell phones with text messaging were invented. I looked down at the note and rolled my eyes.

_How long have people thought this? -Ven_

As if I didn't know who it would be from, I thought. I stole Ven's pencil since I wasn't about to search my entire backpack for one that I possibly didn't have. I wrote on the piece of notebook paper and, with the pencil, slid it back.

_Freshmen year,_ I wrote.

Ven seemed more hurt by this, but he managed to scribble something else as I pretended to pay attention to the different types of drawing methods that we would learn. I put my face in my hands, wondering if there was a way I could change my schedule to get out of this hippy class. The note slid back to me and I growled a bit in annoyance. Ven just smiled weakly at me and turned his attention to the front of the class room.

_Why didn't you ever tell me, you jerk!? And I always thought that people stared at us because they thought that you abused me… Why do I get the feeling that there's more than just __that__? Don't think that I'm done talking about this. We're going to your house after school is over. I want you to tell me __everything__. -Ven_

I groaned at the note and wadded it up into a ball, stuffing it into my pocket. I glared at Ven. "Don't be such a drama queen," I muttered and Ven frowned.

* * *

So in this new story of mine, (oh sweet mother of fanfiction, where are all of these ideas coming from?) Vanitas and Ven will not actually end up together...yet. Hehe. This is the prequel to my two-shot **_Heart Shaped Box_**. Alright, so this story will be a double side point of view and is mostly rated for mild sexual references and (mostly) Vani's foul language, or the rating may actually go down.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1 (Ven's POV)

It was just another day at the park for me. I had brought my stuffed teddy bear because I was attached to the toy when I was three. My mom was waiting by one of the picnic tables with all of the other grown-ups, relaxing as their kids wandered aimlessly throughout the park. Roxas, my older twin brother, was with my dad getting some ice cream; but that didn't matter at the moment to me. I was attempting to put my stuffed bear in a baby swing until an older kid walked up to me. He frowned at me and snatched my bear.

"You're playing with a teddy bear? What a baby," he mumbled.

"I'm three," I told him, reaching for my bear. He held it away from me and laughed.

"Baby," he mocked, "baby, baby, baby."

"Stop it," I yelled.

"Geez, what a girl," he mumbled and I pouted.

"I am _not_ a girl!" The boy lifted my teddy bear and looked down at a mud puddle. My eyes widened with fear and I screamed, "No!"

I'll never forget what he said next, something that would hurt me for the rest of my life. "I'll give it back to you if you be my girlfriend."

"I am _not _a _girl_!" I repeated and felt tears sting my eyes.

"You're cute enough to be one," he muttered and threatened to throw the bear. I shook my head and tried to reach for the stuffed animal, my friend. Tears started to run down my cheeks and I could see a black blob running towards me and the older kid. I blinked to clear my vision and almost started crying again because this kid looked mean, but he stood in front of me and faced the bully.

"Hey, why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" the little boy shouted at the taller one.

"Why don't you shut up?" the bully said, strangling the teddy bear. I began to cry again and started whimpering.

"Wow, is that the best you could come up with for a comeback? How lame," the boy mumbled. I didn't understand what he had said, but it sounded smart and it seemed to make the older kid mad.

The bully yelled, "Shut up!" and pushed my savior down. He fell onto his butt right next to me and glared at the older kid. I was amazed when he didn't start crying and stood up. I saw the older kid's face fall into fear. And before I knew it, the boy who saved had punched the bully in the gut. He fell onto his knees and clutched his stomach, dropping the teddy bear. I reached and clutched it tightly, using the black-haired kid as my shield. The bully frowned at us before he ran off crying.

I saw the black-haired boy walk away and started to follow him. After some time, he turned and looked down at me. I smiled up at him, but he kept walking and I continued to follow him. The boy turned towards the right and I did the same, then he went left and I copied him. He turned towards me again and I gave him my innocent smile.

"Do you need something?" he asked. His tone sounded like he was mad, or maybe he was just annoyed. I didn't care, though. It reminded me of Roxas when he got cranky and needed a nap. He just needed a hug.

I smiled again and said, "Thank you." My arms wrapped around him while I still held onto the teddy bear. I put my ear against his chest and could feel his heartbeat. His body felt hard, almost as if he were made of stone.

"Is that all?" he asked me.

I looked up at him. "My name is Ven," I replied, letting go of the boy. He seemed to relax for some reason. "What's your name?"

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Why would you want to know my name?"

I suddenly felt shy around this kid. Something inside my three-year-old mind told me that he never had a best friend. I wanted to change that. "Because I want to be your friend," I answered.

The boy gave me the kind of look Roxas always gave me when I wore one of his shirts or played with one of his toys. It was a look that said, "Are you crazy?" and I couldn't help but smile. He asked me, "Why?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but I saw the boy's eyes look at something behind me. He ran towards whatever it was and I followed him. My mom called my name and I looked at her to see that she was talking to another lady. The boy in front of me stopped running, but I noticed before it was too late and ran into his back, falling down on my butt. I tried to act as if I just didn't fall down and stood up, grabbing the boy's arm. I held onto as if it were my new teddy bear, while the old one was tucked under my arm.

"I see that you finally made a friend, Vanitas," the other woman said. I looked up at her. She had pale skin just like _Vanitas _and her hair was black, too. But her eyes were different; she had deep brown eyes while Vani's eyes were golden.

"Vani," I cheered. Vani gave me a look, the same look that Roxas gave me when he wanted to slap me. I could only guess that it was because of the nickname. Vanitas was too heard for me to say. I snuggled closer to Vani's arm with both of my arms, not paying attention to my teddy bear as it fell to the ground.

"Aw," my mother cooed, "we should set them up on a play date."

I felt happy inside. Vani was going to be my friend; we were going to play together. I was excited to know that my mom and Vani's mom knew each other when they were in school. Vani's mom would come over everyday to my house so that Vani could play with us. Roxas was always going out somewhere with my mom or dad and I felt happy about this. Roxas always made friends and they would always leave me to play alone. I showed Vani my room and the toys I had, explaining to him what everyone did. I encouraged him to play with me and pushed some toys over to him, but he never wanted to play. He said that he felt more comfortable watching me play. It felt awkward playing in front of Vani, but he seemed to be interested in the story I was making for my toys; so I continued to entertain him. I guess after days of watching me, he liked the idea and started to play with me. Vani always wanted to be the bad guy. This hurt me in a way that made my heart feel like it was drowning. Vani could never be a bad guy in my eyes; he would always be my hero.

* * *

"Ven, come on, get up," Roxas's voice called out to me. "You're going to be late for school." I groaned and tried to snuggle into my bed. "Okay, but just remember that Vanitas won't hesitate to come up here and drag you down the stairs."

I sat up at the mentioning of Vani's name. My sleep defied brain made me forget that Vani was supposed to pick me up to go to school. I jumped out of bed and tripped in the progress. Roxas rolled his eyes at me as I ran towards the bathroom, groaning when I forgot to turn the doorknob and ran into the wooden surface, falling to the floor.

My mom walked out of her room to see what the loud crash was and looked down at me with a quirked eyebrow. "Ven, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to be superhuman and walk through hard surfaces," I mumbled, rubbing my arm. I heard my mother sigh.

"He's excited to see Vanitas," Roxas told my mom.

"Oh, well then that explains everything," my mother muttered, walking towards me. I looked up at her and almost asked what she meant, but it was as if she read my mind. "He always gets excited when Vanitas is around."

I blushed. "I-I do not. I'm just tired," I grumbled, standing up and opening the bathroom door so that I could hide in the small room.

I heard Roxas say, "Yeah, because any tired person would run into a door, literally."

"Shut up," I yelled at him, thinking that a tired person could and would run into a door if they weren't paying attention, but I could hear the sarcasm in his voice and knew that he was implying my excitement to see Vani. Of course I would be happy to see Vani; he was one of my best friends.

I looked at myself in the mirror and groaned. Over my entire excitement and summer sleep schedule, I had only an hour (maybe less) of sleep. I would need some sort of boost to get me through the day until I'd be able to come home and crash. I tried to think of the goals I had for this school year. One of the main goals was to tell my crush, Terra, that I liked him. Terra was the most popular boys in school because he was a football player and a wrestler. His name was always announced and the teenage girls in my class, along with myself, would sigh into our Terra-dreamland. But even though Terra was a jock, that didn't stop me from telling him how I felt. Also, I had heard rumors that he was gay or at least bisexual.

After dressing, I rushed down stairs and made cereal, putting in at least ten spoonfuls of sugar. I saw Roxas give me a weird look before he grabbed his backpack and walked away from me. The front door opened and closed and the sound of Axel's vehicle could be heard. I quickly finished my cereal and ran up the stairs to my room. I grabbed my backpack and tried to think if I needed anything as I sat on my bed and tied my shoes. I heard the sound of a familiar honking sound and jumped up from my bed and started to run down the stairs. Once again, I tripped and fell onto the floor. My mom ran towards the scene but only sighed and shook her head when she saw me. I knew what she was thinking. Inside of her head she was asking me why, but I didn't know the answer to her why question; I could only assume that she was asking me why I wasn't more like Roxas. I shook away the thought that my parents were ashamed of me, that I was the broken twin, and ran out of the house and to the passenger side of Vani's car.

I threw my backpack into the backseat and climbed into the seat of the red convertible, pulling the seatbelt over me. I smiled at Vani and he gave me a small smirk before pulling out of my driveway. I kept my attention on him as he turned. "Vani, are you excited that it's our junior year?" I asked, jumping in my seat. _I put too much sugar in my cereal,_ I thought. _Maybe I shouldn't have chugged that Mountain Dew can…_

"No," he mumbled, his eyes focused on the road ahead, "I'll be excited when I never have to step foot in that building ever again." I frowned and he chuckled. "This year is going to suck," Vani added.

"Why?" I asked, tilting my head. I understood that Vani didn't like school because the teachers seemed to pick on him and the students provoked him into fighting, but my other friends had agreed with him, even the ones that were seniors.

"This is the year when they start bugging us about all that college shit," he answered.

"Oh," I mumbled. I continued to bounce in my seat and smile at him. "Do you think we'll have any classes together?"

Vani shrugged, but it didn't matter at the moment because we were in the school parking lot. After Vani parked the car, I tried to jump out of my seat but the seatbelt prevented me from doing so. I quickly unfastened it and climbed over the door, grabbing my bag as I ran towards the school doors. I stopped at the doors and couldn't stop bouncing as I saw Terra walk by with his friends. I began to run in place until I felt a hand on top of my head. Vani sighed as I continued to bounce and make his attempt to calm me down fail. He slapped me and I whined, but I continued to bounce up and down. I heard another slap and looked at Vani to see that he had slapped his hand over his eyes.

"Ventus," he shouted at me, "calm the fuck down!" I laughed and he sighed, shaking his head. "What the fuck are you on?" Vani muttered and I laughed again.

"I'm sorry, Vani," I replied, still bouncing up and down, "but I'm just so happy!"

Vani didn't say anything and instead grabbed me by the wrist. I winced a little because I had bruised it this morning after running into the door and probably when I fell down the stairs. He led me down the hallways and into the main office, cutting through freshmen. I smiled at them but they glued their bodies to the wall when they saw Vani. I opened my mouth to tell Vani that he was being rude, but I stopped when I saw that the lady behind the desk hadn't noticed and realized that it was a complete waste of time to tell Vani about his generosity.

The lady looked up at us and I started to panic as I began to wonder if she actually did see Vani push his way through the line. Instead, she looked through a stack of papers and handed one of them to Vani. She looked at me and asked, "What's your last name, dear?"

I swallowed nervously before telling her and she searched through the piles of paper, flipping them through her fingers before she handed me my schedule. I took it and thanked her as Vani grabbed my wrist again and pulled me out of the office, wincing again because of the pain.

"Vani," I said as he pulled me through a crowd of teenagers standing in the middle of the hallway. He didn't go around them, he went through them to show how ticked off he was because of where they decided to stand. "What does your schedule look like?" I asked as we went through the junior hallways. I saw Vani look down and then at the locker numbers, letting go of my wrist. He pulled close to the wall of lockers, making me stumble a bit as a group of snotty girls threatened to run us over. I grabbed onto the back of Vani's shirt and knew that he didn't pull to the wall to avoid running into those girls, because he would've more than gladly done so. I saw him look for his locker number as I tripped over my feet and fell against his back, laughing stupidly.

"Here," he said, handing me his schedule while continuing his search for his locker. I managed to hold onto him and compare our schedules at the same time. I felt a smile cross my face. "Fuck," Vani mumbled, grabbing my wrist again and pulling me over to the other side of the hallway. I moaned a bit at the pain and started to wonder if my wrist was broken or badly bruised. Certainly, after Vani's hallway abuse would do more damage, I think. I brushed away the thought and continued to read Vani's schedule, squeaking as I realized that we had just about every single class together. "What the fuck was that?" Vani groaned, turning towards me as I jumped up and down.

"Vani," I squealed again, "we have almost every class together." After jumping up and down, I did some sort of happy dance; a dance that I did for victory and never revealed it in public…until now.

"Oh good," he muttered, opening a locker, "so I'll be able to have a break from you."

"Ah," I moaned, pretending to be hurt, "Vani, don't be mean. This year is going to be special."

"Why's that?" he asked as he overlooked his locker and slammed the door shut, sighing. "Because," I answered and felt my voice quaver, "I think I'm actually going to have the nerve to ask Terra out." I looked down the senior hallway for Terra. He could've made any girl, or guy like me, fall in love. The thought of him being bisexual stood in my mind, telling myself that I could have a chance. I sighed when I didn't see the brunet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tall redhead and a clone of me walking up to us.

"Man, what is up with these freshmen?" Axel asked, looking exhausted. "I was trying to get a drink from the water fountain and they just kept standing there and staring at everything like they've never been out of the house."

"I'd be surprised too if I saw a walking candlestick," I heard Vani say and he smirked. Axel flipped him off as the warning bell was sounded off. All around us, classmates quickly ended their conversations and ran towards their classes. I watched as Axel molested my older brother, grabbing his butt. Roxas rolled his eyes and slapped Axel, walking away from the redhead. Axel chuckled and ran after my twin. I looked down at Vani and noticed that he was staring up at me. I held out my hand to him, offering to help him stand up; however, Vani brushed my hand away and stood without my help. He grabbed his backpack from the floor and I felt a rush of excitement boil through my blood.

I grabbed Vani's hand and pulled him through the hallways. We stopped at the deadly stairs that seemed to have something against me, as they always tried to kill me whenever I decided to go up or down. "C'mon Vani, our first class is up here," I cheered, doing my dance again. I started to run up the stairs, but I tripped and fell against the hard surface. I heard Vani sigh.

"Ven, you idiot, you're not supposed to run up the stairs," he scolded me. I heard the sound of skin slapping and then felt a sharp pain on the back of my head.

"Ow," I whined from his abuse. However, my sugar rush from this morning allowed me to stand back up and attempt to skip up the stairs again, only to fall again. I heard Vani chuckle behind me as I moaned from the pain. "Vani, don't laugh at me, help me." I heard his footsteps get closer to me until they stopped. "Hehe," I laughed nervously and looked up at him, smiling.

He shook his head. "Do you need me to carry you to class?" Vani asked, leaning against the railing of the stairs. I shook my head, thinking that it would be embarrassing for my classmates to see Vani carrying me down the hallway. He gave me a look of annoyance and held out his hand. I grabbed his hand and felt relieved when he pulled me up, but I slowly started to lose my balance again. Vani's arms wrapped around me as I fell against his chest. _Did I almost faint_? I asked myself and groaned softly. "What, don't tell me you're sugar high is wearing off?"

I stared with wide eyes as a familiar, sexy figure walked behind Vani. My mouth dropped as if I were in a cartoon, hanging to the floor. "Terra," I choked, not paying attention to Vani as he still held me. I was too focused on Terra to notice that he was still holding me. My heart raced as Terra got closer and smiled at me.

"Hey Ven, you better hurry," Terra said and I swore I melted when he said my name. "You don't want to be late on your first day of school."

He winked at me and I felt like a schoolgirl. I watched Terra as he walked away and felt a goofy smile form on my face. It was almost like I were floating, and then I realized that I was. Vani had lifted me over his shoulder and was now carrying me down the hallway. Students gave us weird looks and I blushed. "Vani, this looks weird," I groaned, trying to hide.

"No it doesn't," he said, bouncing me on his shoulder as he shifted my weight on his shoulder. I whimpered when his hand touched my butt, not prepared for the sudden contact. "What classroom are we going to again?" _Oh yeah, I was showing Vani where our class was and I still had his schedule._

"Room two-thirteen," I announced, trying to sit up. "Vani put me down. I can walk." I was dropped to the floor and groaned softly as a sharp pain hit my back. "Ow, that hurt," I moaned, glaring at Vani. "Why did you do that?"

Vani pointed at something behind me. "We're here, idiot." I looked over my shoulder and felt my face get red from embarrassment and frustration. I quickly stood up and felt myself the blood go straight to my brain. I moaned at the feeling and looked at the classroom, confused about something I didn't know. Vani pushed me, causing me to almost fall again. I looked back at him, but I wasn't able to say anything as he grabbed my arm and led me to a table. _Oh yeah, this is the class where you always have a partner and get to do weird projects_, I mused to myself as I quickly sat down next to Vani. The bell finally rang and I giggled as I kid in front of us jumped.

The morning announcements rambled on about sport updates and I pondered on whether or not I should join a sport this year. However, I didn't get to decide whether or not I would be joining a sport or a club as the teacher stood in front of us. He was an old man with a hunch with no hair on his head whatsoever. However, he managed to form a small goatee that freaked me out. His introduced himself as Mister Xehanort and requested that we should sit next to someone we were comfortable with and would want to have as a partner for the projects in class. Vani elbowed me and I kicked him under the table, making him chuckle. And then the teacher said that each of the students were to introduce their selves and say something interesting. I felt my stomach drop as I knew that Vani would do say something to either embarrass me or piss Mister Xehanort off. As rows of students said their names and told interesting facts to their classmates, I tried to think of a way that _I _would be interesting. I wasn't really talented for anything except getting finding trouble, or maybe trouble found me.

"What about you two young lads in the back?" the teacher's voice was far away from me. Vani kicked my foot, making me mutter a short _ah_ sound. Students around us laughed momentarily before they stopped. I could only guess that Vani had glared at them, giving them that stare that would make anyone cower in fear.

I looked up at Mister Xehanort and took in a deep breath. "My name is Ventus, Sir," I said, "but my friends call me Ven."

"And what do you think is interesting about yourself, Ventus?" the old man asked. Vani cringed next to me.

"Uh, well I…" I struggled to think of something interesting. I looked over at Vani, hoping that he would have some sort of answer. His eyes were focused on the other students, possibly killing them with his sharp gaze. A smile formed on my face as I pointed at Vani and replied, "I've been friends with Vanitas, ever since we were three." I laughed sheepishly. _I sound like an idiot. Ooh, Vani is going to hit me for that,_ I thought.

"What about you, Vanitas?" the teacher asked. Vani glared at him. I knew that look. Vani didn't have that many emotions, but I knew this look well. It was an expression that said "I will break every bone in your body"

"I'm not interesting," I heard him mutter. I felt my heart shake uncontrollably. That wasn't true, Vani was really interesting. He could fix just about any car, study for a test an hour before he took it and ace it, draw a masterpiece that would make any artist cry, and I swore the meaning of life was hidden somewhere behind those golden orbs.

Mister Xehanort persisted, "Nonsense, everyone has an interesting bone in their body."

I thought, _Uh-oh._

"Fine," Vani hissed, speaking through his teeth, "I always end up saving Ven's ass because he's prone to danger."

I blushed as laughter lit up the classroom. It was true, but it was embarrassing. Vani always did "save my ass" and I was Danger-Prone-Ven. I could hear Mister Xehanort continue asking his students for interesting facts, but I continued to hide away from the world. I wish I could've died right there, or at least disappeared. I felt my foot being kicked and peeked up at Vani as he grinned at me. My stomach dropped, but I felt relieved when his eye twitched. He was being sympathetic.

* * *

I slept through my next two classes, not having enough energy in me to pay attention. My sugar high was wearing off and I felt myself losing the will the walk to the cafeteria. Vani offered to carry me there, but I declined. Instead, I found myself leaning against him as we walked to a table. The chair was a sanctuary for me as I sat down and attempted to fall asleep again. I enjoyed the first minute of silence until more teenagers started to invade the cafeteria and begin their first day of gossip. I groaned and felt a headache form.

Do you ever get those strange feelings that there's another presence with you, almost has if you're being haunted? I know that Vanitas is sitting next to me, but I can't help but feel like something is about to… I squirmed and flapped my hands when something touched my ear, making me groan in annoyance. The presence continued to linger over me and I squealed when fingers attacked my sides. I looked up at Vani to see him smirking at me.

"Vani," I hissed, "stop it."

"Hey, for once, it isn't me," he replied and pointed at something behind me.

I turned to look behind me and almost fell out of my chair when I saw Zack grinning at me. I glared at the other boy and threatened him, "Zack, I'm going to kill you."

Zack shook his spikes back and forth like puppy ears. "No you're not," he said.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?" I asked, putting my head down. I would never tell anyone this, but I used to have an insanely huge crush on Zack during junior high. No, I didn't just have a crush on him, I was _obsessed_ with him. I used to stalk Zack all around the school and even if I saw him in public. However, Zack isn't as dumb as you think he is. Or, I guess I should say that he's smarter than you think. Zack caught on that I was stalking him and I'm not exactly sure what happened next. It was like a big blur, but we became friends and never mentioned it to each other again.

"Because I'm going to help you get your hands on _Terra_," the puppy answered, laughing as my head rose up quickly.

"How?" I asked, tilting my head. How did Zack know Terra? How did Terra know Zack? How was Zack going to get Terra interested in me? Was Terra already interested in me? Why was I asking myself so many questions that I didn't know the answers to?

"You'll see," Zack smirked and gave me a wink. A wink that said he had everything all figured out and he had a plan that no one else knew about.

I groaned and felt my face heat from embarrassment. My eyelids felt heavy and I realized that I was still tired. I put my head down on the table and rested it between my arms, fighting for a comfortable position. However, Vani prevented me from finding a comfy spot and kicked the side of my leg. I glared up at him, expecting to see a devious smirk on his face; but his face was plain.

"What time did you go to bed last night?" he asked. Was he actually concerned? His face seemed to show it.

I let a big breath and answered him, "Four." He kicked me again. Was that my punishment for staying up so late? "Vani, stop doing that!" I groaned and rubbed the sore spot. I could hear Zack chuckling behind me and I almost slapped him for laughing at my pain, but then I realized what I had done. _Oops_, I thought as I slapped my good hand over my mouth and regretted my mistake. _I wonder if Vani will kick me again_. I rarely ever said his nickname in front of other people. Damn it, I forgot that Zack was there.

Vani's golden eyes glared at Zack. "Watch your self, Puppy," he threatened, the sound of his voice was murderous.

"What'd you do now, Zack?" I heard a familiar voice ask and looked up to see Axel as he sat down at our table. He picked up and started eating something that didn't look edible. I cringed when he bit into the pathetic excuse of food and reminded myself why I didn't eat school lunch.

"I'm helping Ven's love-life," Zack answered, smiling as he nudged me. I groaned from embarrassment and wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

"Who's your dream boy, Ven?" I heard Sora ask as he sat between Roxas and Zack. I felt my eyes widen as I studied Sora and Vani. It was like looking into a mirror and seeing the exact opposite. I never understood the relationship between Sora and Vani. I knew that they were half-brothers and shared the same dad, but they didn't live together. What I don't understand is how Sora and Vani both have the same DNA!?

I groaned at Sora's question and coiled against the table, maybe it would somehow take their attention off of me. Yeah, and maybe dogs lay eggs. "No one needs to know," I mumbled, attempting to go to sleep again.

"Ven, you can do better than him," my twin said to me and I could hear the distraught in his voice. I peeked at him.

Sora began to bounce in his seat and almost raped my brother. "Do you know who it is, Roxas?"

"Obviously," I heard Vani's sharp voice answer, making me jump.

I saw Sora frown. "Don't be mean, Vanitas."

"I'll be mean if I want to be mean." I could hear the smirk in his voice. There was a short pause before Vani said, "It's Terra." The table shifted and I sat up, glaring at Vani. He smirked at me. "Oh calm down," he said, I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or everyone else; maybe both, "it's just a small crush."

"Nuh-uh," I heard Zack say as I kept my eyes on Vani, possibly plotting death. Okay, not death, but a punch in the face wouldn't have been so bad. "I'm going to get Terra to ask Ven out. That's my goal for this year."

"Zack actually has a goal," Vani muttered, chuckled.

"Ven, what are you thinking?" Roxas asked and I turned my eyes towards him. "Even if Zack does succeed in getting Terra to ask you out, what makes you think that he won't be abusive?"

I rolled my eyes at my brother. "It's not like I don't already go through abuse," I announced, glaring at Vani. But then my glare softened as I began to remember how Vani had always been there for me. He could protect me from any disasters. He had made me a promise some time after we first met that he would be my knight and I would be his friend. "And Vani will be there if anything bad happens."

"What makes you think that?" Vani asked.

"Vani, huh?" I heard Axel say and could almost hear his grin.

"Shut the fuck up," Vani glared at Axel and then shot me with his gaze. I would've been dead if looks could kill.

"You promised," I replied, locking my eyes with his. I swear the table shifted again.

Vani shook his head. "What promise?"

It felt like my heart had been stabbed repeatedly. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. How could he have forgotten? I could've made his life worst by explaining it to him, but I didn't have a death wish. "You know," I muttered, feel the hot stares of our friends burning into my soul.

"No, I don't know."

That was it. I had been shot and left for dead. I was a wild animal on the edge of the highway that had been hit by a truck and had to watch myself suffer as my life faded by seconds. Tears threatened to roll out of my eyes as I stared at Vani's emotionless state. How could he so fucking heartless? I wanted to punch him for making me feel like an idiot and making me want to cry.

"It's no wonder everyone thinks that you guys are fuck buddies," Axel said.

I froze, forgetting all about Vani as my eyes shifted over to Axel. "What?" I asked him.

"Didn't you know? Everyone thinks that you and Vanitas are fucking," he answered, earning a smack from Roxas.

I looked at Vani. Was it true? Did people really think that they were…? Did people actually think that we had sex? I knew that they thought we were dating, some even thought that Vani hit me. That was an embarrassing day in the guidance counselor's office.

"It was a long time ago," Vani answered my silent question.

"Vani," I choked, "why didn't you tell me about that one?"

I continued to watch him as Vani glared at Axel, threatening to kill the redhead. "Thanks," he hissed and looked me right in the eye. "Ven, get over it. It's not like you should care what those idiots think, anyway."

"But…what if they still think that?" What did everyone think when they saw Vani carrying me this morning?

"Ven," Roxas consoled and I heard a loud crack as he hit Axel's arm.

"Don't worry, Ven. This isn't going to ruin your chance with your lover boy, Terra," Zack cheered.

I small smile crossed my face and I blushed a little. Zack must've been really content with setting me up with Terra. I hid my face in my arms and felt a sharp pain hit my leg. My eyes peeked at Vani and he gave me a sympathetic look. Was he going to say that he was sorry? I prepared myself for the apology.

"Are you sure that you guys aren't fuck buddies?" Axel asked, ruining the almost-apology. I groaned and crawled underneath the table; maybe I would die or disappear down here.

"Axel, shut the fuck up!" Vani's voice exploded through the cafeteria. I saw two pairs of legs leaving our table.

"What are you going to do about it, Vani?" the redhead snickered.

"Don't call me, Vani," Vani hissed.

"Aw," Axel cooed, "so Ven is the only one that's allowed to call you Vani? That's so sweet, Vani. You know, that's probably why everyone thinks that you guys are fucking."

"Axel," Vani shouted, standing up and causing his chair to let out a protesting squeak, "I will fucking kill you."

_He's not joking_, I thought. I reached for Vani's hand and held onto him, staring at him. He looked down at me. "Vani," I whispered and the rest came out silently, "don't, not here."

The bell sounded off and I felt relieved as this nightmare was about to end. I remained under my hiding place until I was sure that Roxas had taken Axel away. I stood up and felt my insides being stabbed when I noticed I was still holding his hand. Our eyes met and I opened my mouth to ask him more about the rumors. I wanted to know. I know that Vani said I shouldn't care what everyone said, but I couldn't stand not knowing. I at least wanted to know what they were saying behind my back so that I could be prepared. However, Vani jerked his hand away from mine and grabbed his bag from the floor and ran out of the cafeteria, escaping my question. _You can't run forever_, I thought and chased him down the hallway. I called out his name a few times, but he didn't answer me. _It doesn't matter, _I told myself, _our next class is together anyway. _I followed Vani all the way to art class, which was almost at the end of the building. He sat by himself in the back, like always, and I slid into the stool next to him.

"What?" he asked bitterly, rolling his eyes at me.

"Vani, why didn't you ever tell me that everyone thinks we're…?" I blushed when I couldn't finish the sentence.

A sigh escaped his lips and he looked away from me. What was he hiding behind those eyes? "You were better off not knowing…"

I stared at him and felt my insides burst. Maybe he hadn't forgotten our promise from forever ago and he was actually sticking up for me. A mental picture of Vani dressed up in a knight's armor was stuck in my head as he lifted a sword above his head. It almost made me forget about everything. _Almost,_ I sighed to myself. "Vani," I whispered his name, attempting to tell him about our childhood secret promise. However, the bell laughed in my ears and the art teacher started class by giving us her directions and class rules. I continued to watch Vani, though.

And then an idea shot through my head. It was if Cupid had switched his love arrows for idea arrows and shot me with one of them. A small smile crossed my lips as I pulled out a notebook paper. I didn't even attract the teacher's attention. A more devious smile crossed my face and I felt like an ultimate bad boy, but nobody could be more ultimate than Vani. I scribbled on the piece of paper and slid the note over to Vani. My heart raced with minor adrenaline; don't judge, I've never done this before. Vani took the note and rolled his eyes at what I wrote:

_How long have people thought this? -Ven_

I'm not sure why I signed my name; it was just something I always did. It was a habit. Vani took my pencil away from me and scratched on the notebook paper. He slid it back to me and I felt the adrenaline slow down.

Vani had wrote, _Freshmen year_, beneath my question.

It hurt. However, I wasn't one of those drama queens that would randomly start crying during class to be dismissed to "go to the bathroom". I pushed the note back to Vani and felt my lips twitch. I turned my attention to the teacher as he read the note:

_Why didn't you ever tell me, you jerk!? And I always thought that people stared at us because they thought that you abused me… Why do I get the feeling that there's more than just __that__? Don't think that I'm done talking about this. We're going to your house after school is over. I want you to tell me __everything__. -Ven_

I heard Vani groan and watched as he crumpled the dead tree and stuffed it into his pocket. He gave me a look that was somewhere between a glare and a tease. "Don't be such a drama queen," he mimicked, making me frown at him.

* * *

Why do I get the impression that Ven's side is longer? I feel like I didn't even change it. So...what did you guys think of reading Ven's POV? Was it interesting? Or was it boring? Should I not repeat chapters? Well, I'll let you decide in a review.

**Replies:**

**XaccemFlare: **Haha, sorry about the sudden jump. Apparently, fanfiction doesn't like three underscores and I didn't even think to add line breaks. Well, I'm hoping that this story will have at least 15 - 20 chapters. Oh, and Roxas didn't appear sooner in the last chapter because he rides with Axel to school (which was probably answered in this chapter) and Sora didn't appear sooner because, well, he just sorta happened. Yeah, he was like a ball jumping up and down that caught my attention. But no, Sora and Vani don't live together (which, too, was probably answered). And, I have thought of putting Cloud in here since there's no rule in _Heart Shaped Box_ that says he can't be, but that hasn't been decided yet.

**Kai27: **Lol, I'm not much of a Terra/Ven fan, either. Sure, I look at pictures, but actually writing/reading them together is too hard for me. I'm going to be raping myself to write Terra/Ven... Uh... That sounded awkward. 'O_O

**xXDoubtfulAdmirationXx:** Ha, darn caps lock. You know, I had the strange impression that a bird was tweeting in my room. But it turned out it was just my phone alerting me about your review.

**XxVaniXxVenXx: **Hehe, lol, sure... You can love me. *hug


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2 (Vani's POV)

Ven ran after me when school ended. He followed me to my car and I had no choice but to let him entire my private bubble. Or, I guess I should say the-bubble-that-I-didn't-want to-share-with-Ven. However, Ven was silent on the car ride over to my house. He stared at the outside world and watched it pass by. I kept looking at him every now and then to make sure that he was okay. Ven's eyes remained on the buildings and houses that we passed by, focusing on all of the road signs as if they held all of the answers.

I pulled into my driveway and sighed when Ven continued to stare outside. Turning the rusty, old engine off, I leant over and slapped Ven's arm. He protested a bit, holding the sore spot where I had hit him and glared at me. "Hey," I said, "we're here." His eyes looked at my house and he made a humming noise. I watched him get out of the car and led him into the house, groaning when my mom ran to the door like an overly-obsessed dog.

"Vanitas, how was school?" she asked, noticing Ven. "Oh, hello Ven, did you have a good day at school."

"Yes, ma'am," Ven lied, smiling at my mom. My mom smiled back at him and I could tell she wanted to hug him until his soul popped out.

I cleared my throat. "Uh, yeah… Well anyway, Mom, Ven and I have to work on something."

My mom's eyes squinted at me. "Huh? I didn't think that teachers gave out homework on the first day of school."

"Yeah, well this teacher is strict and a real jackass," I mumbled, grabbing Ven's arm and dragging him up the stairs.

"It was good to see you, Ven," my mother's voice called up to us.

Ven turned and waved at her. "You too."

"You two try to have fun with your assignment," she added, heading towards the kitchen.

"I doubt it," I mumbled, opening the door to my bedroom. I pulled Ven inside and shut the door behind me. For a while, me and Ven just stood there in my room and stared at each other. His hands fidgeted together and I could tell he was unsure about something. I watched him drop his bag lightly to the floor and threw mine in a corner. Finally, Ven sat down on my bed, but I continued to stand there and watching him.

"So…uh, tell me everything," he proposed, looking down into his hands.

I shook my head. "Ven, you don't want to know what people say about you and you know that."

"No Vani, I _want_ to know. Please tell me," he begged and I felt myself groan as he looked up at me with sad eyes, "maybe I'll finally understand why everyone looks at me the way they do."

I sighed and sat down on my computer chair. "People look at you for many reasons, Ven," I explained, "and, believe it or not, but there's more than just one rumor."

"There's more?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Ven. Someone in our class started the rumors that we were dating, and then people started to think that we were having sex together. They thought we were fuck buddies and did it in the school bathroom. The rumor changed to where everyone started to think that you were my bitch and that I paid you to have sex with me and other people." Ven blushed and turned away when he heard this. "Everyone that thought we were dating got the idea that we were in an abusive relationship and, well, you know the rest."

Ven shook his head. "Wait, what does everyone think now?"

I shrugged. "They believe what they want. Some are convinced that we fuck each other in the bathroom, while others still think that we're dating and I hit you. And the rest believe that all of it is true."

"Do you think that's why our whole class had to study about abusive relationships in health?"

I shook my head. "No, they teach that every year." Ven frowned. "What?" I asked. He looked down and shrugged, shaking his head. "No, tell me."

He sighed. "I was just wondering what Terra thought."

Something hit me in the chest, hard. I bit on my back teeth and took in a deep breath. I had to stop myself from yelling at Ven that Terra was a complete fuck up. Ven's eyes got that dreamy look and I knew he was thinking about Terra. "Stop doing that," I said, bringing Ven out of his daydream and he blushed. "What is it about Terra that you like?" Ven opened his mouth, but I shook my head before he could say anything. "You know what, don't tell me. I don't want to know what you see in that jackass."

"Vani," Ven whined. "I like Terra because…"

"No, don't tell me!"

"He's handsome," Ven cooed, falling on his back on my bed.

I rolled my eyes at him, feeling disgusted that he was thinking of Terra on my bed. "I do sleep there, you know." Ven looked up at me and blushed. "If you're going to daydream about guys, don't do it on my bed; unless you're dreaming about me."

Ven blushed again. "V-Vani," he shouted.

"I'm kidding," I yelled back. I saw Ven's eyes light up and thought, _Oh no._

"Who do you like, Vani?" he asked.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Who do you have a crush on?"

I shook my head and sighed. "I don't have a _crush_ on anyone," I said. Ven started to protest but I cut him off. "No Ven, there's no one that I like." _Ven is really cute_, my mother's voice echoed in my head. He sighed and sat back on his hand, jumping slightly. One of my eyebrows rose at him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Translation: Are you okay?

"I hurt my hand this morning," he replied, grasping onto his wrist. I gave him a questioning look and he seemed to blush. "I…ran into a door."

I would've laughed at him, called him an idiot and insult him with a million names; however, I just stared at him. A part of me even felt sympathy for him. What the fuck was wrong with _me_? I must've not gotten enough sleep last night. I stood up and walked towards my bedroom door. Ven looked up at me with innocent eyes. "Well," I said, coughing as I cleared my throat. _Maybe I'm catching a cold_, I thought. "Do you want your hand to be fixed or do you want it to be lopsided forever?" Ven ran after me as I walked down stairs to have my mom fix Ven's hand because she was a nurse; well, certified nursing assistant, but whatever.

* * *

"I have to make sure that I have a prom date this year," a girl sitting beside me said to her friends. I rolled my eyes. _Why do you need a fucking prom date? It's fucking _August!

"What about Homecoming?" one of her friends asked.

"Oh, nobody goes to Homecoming anymore," the girl explained. "The student council group said that it's better not to have a dance, anyway. You know, since we're not allowed to grind anymore."

"That's so stupid," another said.

They were pissed off that they couldn't grind at school dances? What the fuck? My inner thoughts shouted at me to smack some sense into these girls, but it was better to laugh at their stupidity than try to fix it. I glanced at the clock and bounced my leg impatiently as I waited for study hall to end. Listening to these girls made me get a sudden urge to hit something. _Good thing we're playing volleyball in gym class_, I thought as the bell rang. I jumped up from my seat and raced out of the classroom, nearly running over a small freshmen girl. She glared at me and I smirked, winking at her before I made my way to the gym.

"Fuuuuuck," I groaned, shoving the boys' locker room door open. I walked over to my locker and glared at the lock. I flipped it off before working the combination, growling when it wouldn't open. "Damn it, lock," I mumbled, "stop being so difficult or I will shove you up someone's ass."

I heard a giggle beside me and saw Ven smiling at me. "Vani, don't threaten the lock."

"Why?" I asked, slamming the lock against my locker when it refused to open again. "It's an object that is somehow committing evil crimes; it's not like it has any feelings or friends."

"Your locker is its friend," Ven stated, laughing some more. He jumped when I yelled in victory and threw the damn object on the floor. "I can tell that you're hyper."

I sighed and threw my gym clothes on the bench, sitting down and taking my shoes off. "I am gonna crash after school," I mumbled. "Fuck, I shouldn't have snuck that Mountain Dew into study hall." I heard Ven hold back a giggle. "Hey, don't laugh at my misery; that's my job!"

"I can't help it," he said, taking his gym clothes out of his bag. I rolled my eyes, remembering him telling me that he didn't like lockers because anyone could into one and steal something. I had argued that they were just old clothes that he was going to sweat it, but he had countered with "What if someone gets into my gym locker and wears my clothes because they forgot to bring theirs? I don't want to wear them after someone has already sweated in them." Yes Ven, because people do that. "What are we doing today?" Ven asks, taking his shirt off.

"Playing volleyball," I answered, stripping until I was only wearing boxers. I smirked when Ven shook his head at me, pulling his gym shirt over his head. I found it funny that some guys, like Ven, would try to hide by taking or putting their clothes on one at a time. "For once, I am glad that we're playing that shitty sport because I actually get to hit something."

"Unless we're going to practice volleyball techniques," a voice said. I turned to look at Zack leaning against a locker.

"No," I shouted, "don't say things like that, Fair! I am _not_ doing what those prissy little girls do. That shit is supposed to be for practice, not fucking gym class."

Ven and Zack laugh. "Vani, you amuse me," he says while awkwardly pulling his pants down and quickly pulling his gym shorts over himself.

"How do _I_ amuse _you_?" I asked, grabbing my own shorts and pulling them over my hips. "_You _amuse _me_, Ven," I said, "with the way you try to hide while getting dressed." He blushed slightly and I heard him squeak as I pulled my shirt over my head. My eyebrows lifted when I saw that Zack had his arms wrapped around Ven, hugging him from behind. "Zack, stop creeping up on Ven." I walked away from them and walked to the door of the boys locker room. They followed and stood on either side of. _Great, now I'm a fucking sandwich._

Zack pouted and then smiled. "Why, is that your job?"

I smirked at him. "Maybe," I said as a kid in front of us opened the door and I yelled out a groan as everyone got lined up. "Let's do this shi…" The gym teacher looked at me, lifting an eyebrow and waiting for me to continue. "…stuff."

"Hmph," the teacher says, walking away from us, "nice save."

"Fuck yeah it was," I mumbled. We joined our class to warm up and then we were forced to run around the gym three times. _No, I don't want to fucking run. I want to beat the shit out of a ball_. I yelled out some more as I sprinted off, using all of my energy to run past everybody. I met up with Ventus and slowed my pace. "C'mon Ven, put some legwork into it."

"Vani, I'm running as fast as I can," he whined, panting a bit.

"I've seen you run faster than that," I replied. He shook his head. "Ven, run faster or I will chase you."

His eyes widened. "Okay, you'll chase me. What happens when you catch me?"

"I'll tickle you," I answered, grinning when Ven squeaked.

"No," he whined. "Vani, don't."

"Then run faster," I said.

Ven groaned. "You're an ass."

I gasped. "Ven, I didn't know you had such harsh language in your vocabulary," I replied sarcastically. "Do you think that I not know that? Now catch up to Zack and I won't tickle you."

"Do I have to?" he whined, looking at Zack on the other side of the gym.

"Do you want to be tickled?"

"No," he answered."Then, yes, you have to," I told him, watching his face form into something of a pout and a scowl. He ran off ahead of me, slowly passing everyone else. I picked up my pace just a bit, enough to where I could stay behind him. When he finally caught up with Zack, I ran up to his side and poke his ribcage. He let out a sharp squeak. "You win," I said.

"I won," he asked, "so you had to poke my ribs?"

"Yup," I answered, grinning when everyone stopped running. "That was your prize."

He ignored me as the teacher explained our "assignment". Yes, we hit a ball and they hit it back. What more is there to understand!? He then yelled at us to get partners and I grinned, sneaking behind Ven and wrapping my arm around his waist. Ven let out a squeak, causing everyone to look at us, and struggled to free himself. "Vani, let me go," Ven whined.

I wrapped my arms around him tighter. "No, I need to make sure no one steals you," I replied, holding him close like an overprotective mother. Okay, no more Mountain Dew in class.

"Vani, people are gonna think that we're," he paused, blushing a bit, and whispered the last part, "_you know._"

I nudged closer to the side of his neck and rubbed against him the way a cat would. "You're funny, Ven," I said, letting go of him. "Now go get a ball." I watched as he awkwardly ran off and my eyes slowly moved to look at the other students. Why did it seem that everyone was staring at Ven's ass? They pulled out of their Ven's-butt-trance when they noticed that I was staring at them, awkwardly shifting. _Huh, I guess everyone does have an inner-gay_.

Ven attempted the throw the ball at my face, but I caught it in time before the object could kiss me. He huffed like a little prissy girl that didn't get her way. "Damn it," he whispered.

I smirked, finding it cute how Ven hid his swearing. Wait, cute? _Damn, maybe I need to stay away from sugar_. "You know, just for that," I said, bouncing the ball in my hand, "I'm not gonna go easy on you." Ven whimpered. "Now get down there," I motioned towards a wall, "and let me beat you."

"Oh whatever," he replied, running towards the area I told him to go and it seemed that everyone was staring at Ven's butt again; or maybe I that's the sugar talking. I teased him at first, throwing the ball in the air and pretending to serve it to him. No, there was no net because our class is too fucking lazy to put them up and take them down. "Vani, stop doing that," Ven yelled at me. I snickered and punched the ball at him, nearly hitting him in the face. He dodged it and glared at me. "Not cool," I heard him mumble.

I chuckled. "I told you, I wasn't going to go easy on you. Now hit the ball back." Ven served the ball to me, rather crappy, and I hit it back at him with a loud smack on my arms. I realized too late that I probably hit the ball a little too hard than I should've and tried to stop myself from laughing when the volleyball hit Ven in the face. He screamed in shock and fell down. I ran over to him and laughed more. "Oops, that one was accidental."

"You mean 'accidentally on purpose', you jerk," Ven moaned and sat up, holding his eye.

I put a hand over my mouth. "Oh come on," I said, "You know that I wouldn't hurt you on purpose like that. Come on. Let me see your eye." He looked up at me as I leant over him and uncovered his eye. I chuckled. "Ha, looks like you're gonna have a black eye."

He stared up at me wide-eyed. "V-Vani, I can't have a black eye."

My shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Relax Ven, you'll be fine." He didn't say anything and just sat there, poking at his eye and wincing. "Do you want me to take you to the nurse?" I asked. He nodded and held out his hand. I rolled my eyes and helped him up, walking him over to our gym teacher. He eyed us, more of me because I had my arm around Ven's shoulders, and raised an eyebrow. "I'm taking him to the nurse," I said. Like hell I was asking if I could go with him, I already made up my mind that I was.

"And why do you need to go with him to the nurse? He's a big boy," the middle-aged man answered.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, Ven is temporarily blind in one eye. You can't have him running into things."

He waved at us to get away. "Yeah, yeah whatever. You and your teenager excuses."

I patted Ven's back and led him towards the gymnasium doors. "Fuck you, old man."

* * *

Ven refused to talk to me until I dropped him off at his house, still holding the icepack over his eye. His mother shrieked when she saw him and demanded to know who had beaten her son up. He glared at me with his free eye and pointed at me, mumbling something and walked towards his room. I grinned and told his mom, "Gym class got too exciting" before following Ven to his room.

"Hey," I said, plopping myself down on his bed, "are you really that mad at me for giving you a black eye?"

He shrugged, shifting the icepack. "Until my eye stops hurting, then yes."

I chuckled. "You know I didn't mean to hit you in the face with a volleyball." Ven didn't say anything. "Will it help if I say I'm sorry?"

"No," he answered.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips. "Well, I'm sorry," I muttered.

Ven stared at me and smiled a bit. "No you're not," he mumbled, shaking his head.

"Okay, I'm not. I meant to give you a black eye," I replied, laying back. "There, does that sound better?"

Ven laughed lightly. "Just try not to do anything else to my face."

I scoffed. "Ah, I see. You wanna look pretty for the man of your dreams," I teased. Ven smacked my arm, sitting next to me on the bed. I guess that was his way of forgiving me.

AGH~! I have so many excuses as to why this chapter is late, but I'll narrow it down to two: TWEWY and Tumblr. No, I didn't play TWEWY (even though I wish I could- I need to find someone with that game-and yes, I knew about the game before KH3D...that seems to piss people off for some reason). However, I did watch the walkthrough because voices in my head told me that I wouldn't be able to play the game. Hmm, buy it from the app store on my iPhone...or just stalk video game stores for the game? I choose to stalk.

So...I've become a Tumblr addict. (Is there a cure?) I even started my own little RP blog, and post other crazy things too.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 2 (Ven's POV)

Do you ever get those weird vibes and think that someone's either standing right behind you or they're looking at you? I don't like that feeling. It makes me feel like I'm about to be devoured by a hungry monster or something. I turned my head a bit to look behind me, but no one was watching me, not even Vani. I shrugged it off and picked out a volleyball and juggled it in my hands. Vani had his arms crossed over his chest, looking at the other students with this intense stare that either meant "I-wish-you-would-fall-down-the-stairs" or "Who-died-and-gave-you-the-right-to-live-on-this-planet"; I wasn't sure which one suited him more.

I smiled when an idea sparked through my mind and I laughed to myself a little. An almost-smirk crossed my face and I ran up to Vani, throwing the ball and aiming at his head. However, he caught it before it could hit him and raised an eyebrow at me. "Damn it," I mumbled.

He scoffed, looking down at the ball and then back up at me. "You know," he said, throwing the ball up and down , lightly bouncing it in his hands, "just for that, I'm not gonna go easy on you." _Oh shit_, I thought, groaning at the way he smirked and pointed at the wall we were facing. He was going to murder me. "Now get down there and let me beat you."

I shook away any bad thoughts that entered my head, telling myself that Vani would never try to hurt me on purpose. _At least, I don't think he would._ And at that moment, I wished that the teacher would yell at our classmates to put up the net; so then maybe the net would somehow save me if he did decide to get too rough. "Oh whatever," I said with too much confidence, running to the wall and convincing myself that I wasn't going to let him _win_, even if we were just bouncing a ball back and forth and not actually _playing _a real game. He threw the ball in the air and I prepared myself, holding my arms out in front of me. But he let the ball drop and caught it in his hands, grinning at me. I scowled and he repeated the same thing over again. I groaned and yelled at him, "Vani, stop doing that!" I heard him laugh at me and he threw the ball into the air again, punching it with his fist. It flew at me and I had a mini-heart attack when it almost came in contact with my face, but I quickly dodged it and felt my heart drop to my stomach when it made a loud smacking sound against the wall behind me. I looked back at the ball as it bounced up and down a few times and attempted to roll away, but was stopped by the back of my leg. "Not cool," I said.

He laughed, _damn bastard. _"I told you, I wasn't going to go easy on you. Now hit the ball back."

I glared at him before picking up the ball and serving it to him, wincing a little when my hand hit the ball. It still hurt from the other day when I ran into the door, but now it was bandaged up when Vani's mom looked at it the other day. Vani hit the ball back and I had been contemplating too much on whether or not I had fractured my wrist or if it was just bruised very badly. I didn't notice the ball zooming towards me until I looked up and- _**WHACK!**_

"Ahhh," I screamed and fell to my knees and leaning forward, touching my face with my bad hand and cradling my wrist in my other. Vani ran over to me and laughed. _Wait, he's laughing? He's actually _laughing _at me?_ I groaned from the pain of both my eye and wrist, but mostly my eye at the moment. _That damn bastard._ And then I rethought my inner argument a few minutes ago of whether or not Vani would actually hurt, wondering if he really did mean to hit me.

"Oops, that one was accidental," he said. I looked up at him and he grinned at me. He was actually, pardon my harsh language, _fucking_ grinning at me. That _fucking_ bastard, gah! _Okay Ven, calm down._

"You mean 'accidentally on purpose', you jerk," I cursed at him, sitting up straight and still covering my (probably hideous) eye.

"Oh come on." _Was that a whine?_ "You know that I wouldn't hurt you on purpose like that. Come on. Let me see your eye." Vanitas took my hand away from eye and I looked up at him. He chuckled again. _Bastard_. "Ha, looks like you're gonna have a black eye."

My eyes widened; well, my good eye widened. "V-Vani, I can't have a black eye." I went over all the reasons: Terra, my mother, Roxas, and just in case anymore rumors started, but mostly I thought of Terra. What would he think? What would he say? _He can't see me like this_.

Vanitas shrugged and I wanted to mentally curse at him again, or maybe even punch him in the face. "Relax Ven, you'll be fine." I ignored him and tested out my eye, gently poking at it and wincing from the pain. _This is bad_. "Do you want me to take you to the nurse?" I nodded and held out my good hand for him to lift me up. I thought I saw him roll his eyes but I couldn't tell, you know, because I have a _broken eye_. He took a hold of my elbow and pulled me up, leading me over to the teacher and said, "I'm taking him to the nurse."

"And why do you need to go with him to the nurse? He's a big boy." _I'm a big boy with a broken eye._

Vanitas huffed at the teacher's statement. "Well, Ven is temporarily blind in one eye. You can't have him running into things." _I hate you_, I thought to myself, ignoring whatever our teacher said next. It must've been something bad or maybe even offensive for Vanitas to say, "Fuck you, old man," as we left the gymnasium. Or maybe he just felt like cursing him out, since Vanitas wasn't exactly teacher friendly, especially towards the gym teacher. Actually, he wasn't even people friendly; I dunno, whatever goes on his head is beyond me.

As we walked to the nurse's office, I continued to mentally curse at Vanitas. The area around my eye started to throb and I groaned. I glared up at him with my one eye and sighed. "Did you really have to hit me that hard?"

"You make it sound like I purposely beat you up."

"Tell that to my broken eye!"

Vanitas furrowed his eyebrows together and looked at me. "Ventus, I don't think it's possible to have a broken eye; broken nose, yes. Your nose isn't broken though, so get over it."

I pouted, turning my head away from him. "How do you know it's not broken? You threw the ball at me so hard it's no wonder my head didn't fly off." We stopped walking and Vanitas stood in front of me and poked my nose. I flinched at the sudden touch. "Hey, what was that for?"

"Did that hurt?" Vanitas asked, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes locked onto me, waiting for an answer.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Did your nose hurt when I poked it?" he asked and I shook my head, touching my nose. "Well then there you go, it's not broken."

"How would you know? You're not a doctor!"

He shrugged and we continued walking. "True, I'm not a doctor. But I think I know enough about medical shit to say that I did not throw the ball hard enough to snap your head off. You wouldn't be walking at the moment, Ven." I groaned and he flashed a grin at me.

"I hate you," I mumbled as we stepped into the nurse's office.

"No, you love me," he said and winked at me. I felt a blush creep up on my face as the nurse asked us why we were here. _Does she not see me holding my injured eye?_ "Ven needs something for his broken eye." Another blush spread across my face and I wanted to kick him.

"Vanitas, you can't break an eye," the lady said as she got up from her chair and prepared an icepack.

"No, you could break an eye," Vanitas replied. "There's just only a few unfortunate people in this world that are lucky enough to do it. And Ven just happens to be one of those lucky rare few," he added, grinning at me again.

The woman just shook her head and walked towards me, handing me the icepack. "Here you go. So what happened?" she asked, returning to her small desk in the corner of the room.

"Volleyball mishap," I murmured, turning the ice pack until it felt comfortable in my hand.

"I beat him up," Vanitas answered, grinning. I shook my head at him.

"You beat him up with a volleyball?" the nurse asked.

"No, he hit the ball too hard and I didn't notice it until it whacked me in the face," I said and brought the icepack to my eye, flinching away from the cold touch against my skin before gently putting it on my eye again.

"Alright, but let's be truthful, Ven," Vanitas said, leaning against the counter in the office. "I beat you up. You even said so yourself. Right?" He still had that smug look on his face. Gah, I wanted to punch him!

"Oh, shut up," I mumbled, readjusting the icepack.

The nurse ignored our little quarrel and handed Vanitas a piece of paper, a pass back to class. "Will that be all for you boys?" she asked, turning to look at her computer and type something.

"Yes," I grumbled, turning towards the door.

"Actually, do you know where we could go for couples counseling?" Vanitas asked, grinning.

"No, no I don't," the nurse replied, leaning back in her chair and giving us an odd look, tilting her head as if she were confused by the question.

"Aw, too bad," Vanitas said, pushing himself off the counter and walking towards the door, standing next to me. "Ven and I need to work on a few things." He wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Shut up, you jerk!" I yelled at him, shoving his hand away and walking away from the nurse's office.

"Careful Ven," he teased, "you might run into something."

"Go die in a hole," I mumbled, trying to get away from him and turning down a hallway, one that was no where near the gym.

"Ven, I know you're half blind and everything, but class is that way," Vanitas said. I imagined him pointing in the other direction with that same smirk upon his face, taunting me.

I groaned. "Go away."

"Okay, but just remember that I'm your ride home," he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and turned me back in the direction of class, grinning at me, "unless you wanna walk."

"Shut up, I'm ignoring you."

"Oh, really?" he asked, but I didn't say anything. "What, giving me the silence treatment now?" I glared at him. "Okay, fine; be that way."

* * *

"Ventus! What happened to your eye!?" my mother screamed as soon as I walked into my house, still holding the icepack over my eye with a certain raven trailing behind me. I swear I could hear him laughing at me, _bastard_.

I turned and did my best to glare at my so-called-friend, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Ask him," I mumbled, heading to my room as my mom looked at me in confusion and a bit of worry. I heard Vanitas chuckle and say something to her; his footsteps following me up the stairs. Vanitas kicked my bedroom door behind him and dropped his bag on the floor, sitting down on my bed.

"Hey," he called out as I continued to stand in the middle of my room, just staring at him with my free eye and putting my bag somewhere on the floor, "are you really that mad at me for giving you a black eye?"

I shrugged and turned the icepack in my hand, not looking at him as I said, "Until my eye stops hurting, then yes."

He chuckled and leaned back against the wall, resting his arms on his knees. "You know I didn't mean to hit you in the face with a volleyball." I turned away from him and sat down in my computer chair, ignoring him and trying to distract myself with something. "Will it help if I say I'm sorry?"

"No," I said, staring at a poster.

Vanitas sighed. "Well, I'm sorry."

I couldn't help but smile. He was never a big fan of the sentimental, heartfelt sappy stuff. Even coming up with ways to apologize had always been tough for him. "No you're not," I muttered, looking up at him.

"Okay, I'm not. I meant to give you a black eye," he said, lying back on my bed. "There, does that sound better?"

I just looked at him for a while, smiling at his sarcasm and laughing. "Sure, but just try not to damage my face or put me in the hospital or anything."

"Ah, I see. You wanna look pretty for the man of your dreams," he teased. I got up and smacked his arm, sitting next to him.

"Shut up," I said.

He chuckled. "Hey, apparently Sora's throwing a party in a week or two."

"Yeah, so?" I asked, pulling the icepack away from my face. The ice had melted and it was basically just a bag of water.

"_So_, did you wanna go? Or am I have to find some pathetic freshman girl to go with me?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbow, grabbing the plastic baggy from me. "I don't think you need this anymore," he said, throwing the bag across my room. It made a squishy noise when it landed.

"Oh sure, on the floor," I huffed.

"Relax, it's just water. Let me see your eye," he replied, tilting his head to look at me. I turned my head towards him as he studied my eye, pursing his lips. "Eh, not too bad." He leaned back.

"What do you mean _'not too bad'_?" I asked.

"It could've been worst," Vani shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, stop avoiding the question. Are you going or not?"

I sighed. "What _kind _of party?" It wasn't like we were close to any special holidays. I mean, it was basically the end of August. And I doubted Sora was the type of person to have a themed party, or maybe I was confusing him with Vani.

"A party is a party, Ven," he explained. "And when you put a bunch of teenagers together, there's going to be lots alcohol, people throwing up and passing out on each other, possibly a chance drugs, and lots and lots of unprotected sex. What more do you want?"

"I don't want any of that," I said, shaking my head. I didn't want to experience any of that. "My mom and dad would probably say no," I mused out loud, thinking of how overprotective they were.

Vani chuckled. "You don't tell them where you're going, idiot. And just because it's there doesn't mean that you have to give in to peer pressure. Geez Ven, do you really think I'd take you to a party and let you get high and drugged up? No, your mother would have my head mounted on her wall!" I tried to hold back a smile. "So, I'll ask you again and don't think about any details. Are you going or do I have to find someone else to go with?"

I glared at him. "Would you really take a freshman to a party?"

He shrugged and laid back again, putting his hands behind his head. "I dunno. Maybe if she's willing to do some stuff," he nudged me with his foot and grinned, "you know what I'm saying?"

I pushed his foot away from me. "I can't believe you. Actually, I can. But really, you'd take advantage of a freshman?"

"Hey, this conversation isn't about some nonexistent freshman girl that I may or may not be taking. I'm gonna crash on your bed if you don't give me an answer in the next five seconds."

_You're gonna crash anyway, _I thought as Vani closed his eyes.

"One…two…three…" _Wait, is he seriously counting?_ "…four…" he opened one eye at me, "…four and a half…"

"Fine, yes, I'll go! Just stop counting!"

Vani chuckled. "Good, so you're my date then."

He was such a jerk sometimes; okay, most of the time. I looked over at him and wanted to tell him off or something, but Vani was already fast asleep. I sighed and stood up, stretching and walking over to my computer. He'd probably wake up in twenty minutes and just go home. It wasn't like this was new or anything. And it wasn't like his mom would frantically call the entire world to know where his entire existence was. So, I just let him sleep there and… Wait, I was his what?

* * *

It's probably short... I tried to do something different, kinda. Well, anyway... I've been distracted by a lot of things, but hopefully I'll still be able to write some more chapters for this story. Currently at a writer's block... ;n; Mmm, I kinda wanted to make Ven a bit more... I dunno... not feisty, but more aggressive? I guess? after Vanitas hit him in the face. I'm sorry if you expected something else and I just disappointed you. You can feel free to suggest anything if you wish, or bug me on tumblr. Oh, and the rating on this story might actually go down to T maybe? Because I had planned for something to happen but then decided against it.

Anyway. Thank you to Cozzato and XaccemFlare for reviewing. I don't really know how to reply to you guys at the moment and you can't see it, but I'm making a heart with my hands right now.

**Also, if you are getting notifications about an update. It's probably not (right now, for now). It's just me making changes. Oops.**


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